AbolerIS Pharma strengthens management team to support next phases of growth
AbolerIS Pharma is a pre-clinical stage biotech company specialized in the development of innovative immuno-modulators for the treatment of transplant rejection, graft-versus-host-disease and auto-immune diseases. The company recently announced the successful completion of a seed financing round to help advance the pipeline and company. AbolerIS Pharma has recently put in place an experienced management team to achieve the targeted milestones and support the next phases of growth.
The company is led by CEO Ann Meulemans, PhD, a seasoned biotech entrepreneur who leverages more than 25 years of drug development experience. In her previous role as compound development team leader at J&J, she brought several products from discovery to early clinical proof-of-concept phase, and subsequently led and managed the early development portfolio of Movetis, a J&J spinout company. She subsequently co-founded 2 Bridge, a drug development consultancy company. In that context, Ann has supported several companies in the evaluation, selection and development of products, often in interim management roles. She is joined by COO Olivier Favre-Bulle, PhD MBA, who already spent 25 years in the life sciences industry, in CMC and drug development. He began his career at Rhône-Poulenc as project manager in CMC, and subsequently moved to Novo Nordisk as head of consulting and engineering services. Olivier then joined Covance as head of preclinical studies in France and biopharmaceutical CMC in Europe. He subsequently founded 3Biotech, a CMC and drug development consultancy company. In that setting, Olivier has supported several companies in their CMC development and acted as interim COO. Both 2 Bridge and 3Biotech will support the operational and strategic activities of AbolerIS Pharma. Michael Saunders, PhD MBA complements the management team as a senior consultant in preclinical antibody development. He leverages more than 25 years of experience in therapeutic antibody discovery and preclinical development in large Pharma (GSK) and biotech, including Devgen, Ablynx and argenx, where he served as VP External Research. Since 2019, Michael has provided consultancy for multiple biotechnology companies. Co-founders of AbolerIS Pharma, Carole Guillonneau, PhD and Ignacio Anegon, MD serve in the capacity of senior scientific advisors. The team is further strengthened by Kevin Hollevoet, PhD as program manager, Olivier Van de Steen, MD MBA as senior medical advisor, and Tomas Van Dyck as CFO.
Together, the team has a wealth of knowledge and proven track records in early-stage biotechs and the drug development field.
Dr. Carole Guillonneau commented “I am very pleased to have attracted these experienced and accomplished people to the management team of AbolerIS. I believe the people of a company are key for its success and I look forward to working with them”.
Dr. Ann Meulemans added “I am thrilled to be part of this journey and support the growth of the company. Building on outstanding science, our experienced team is focused on bringing novel solutions to patients in need”.
About AbolerIS Pharma (www.aboleris-pharma.com)
Founded in November 2019 by Dr. Carole Guillonneau (Director of Research CNRS) and Dr. Ignacio Anegon (Director of Research INSERM), researchers in Unit 1064-CRTI INSERM University of Nantes, located at the Nantes University Hospital, kicked-off by a technology transfer led by Ouest Valorisation,a French TTO, together with Dr. François-Xavier Hubert, MD PhD.
AbolerIS Pharma is developing two innovative strategies to regulate the immune system: an anti-CD45RC monoclonal antibody and the cytokine IL-34. In October 2020, AbolerIS Pharma raised €2.5 million from an investment consortium comprised of Turenne Santé/Sham Innovation Santé and Newton Biocapital.